Starmer under pressure over Mandelson vetting scandal

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will face questions in the House of Commons for the second time this week amid ongoing debate over the scrutiny of Lord Peter Mandelson.

It comes after former Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins said there was a “condescending approach” from No 10 to an investigation and an “atmosphere of pressure” to ensure Lord Mandelson was appointed as Britain’s ambassador to the US.

The Labor leader is expected to be grilled at Prime Minister’s Questions after Sir Olly defended himself before the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

The chief civil servant was sacked by the prime minister last week after it emerged that he had failed to tell him that Lord Mandelson was allowed to take on the senior diplomatic post despite vetting officials advising him not to.

Sir Keir said in the House of Commons on Monday that he had challenged Sir Olly on why he had gone against the advice of the UK Security Review (UKSV) and did not accept his explanation.

But Sir Olly said it was normal not to share the findings of the review process and said the colleague felt under pressure to be approved for the role.

When Sir Olly took over the Foreign Office in January last year, Lord Mandelson had already gone through the Cabinet Office’s “due diligence” process, the King and the US had given him the go-ahead, and he had been given access to “highly classified briefings” on a case-by-case basis without his security clearance being approved.

The Whitehall veteran said this resulted in a “condescending approach” to the review developed in Downing Street for the remainder of the process, but insisted the process had been completed to the normal standard “despite this atmosphere of pressure”.

Number 10 rejected this, saying there was a distinction between “the idea of ​​pressure” and “knowledge of the process and the direction of the appointment”.

Meanwhile, Dame Emily Thornberry has suggested she could bring Sir Keir’s former private secretary Morgan McSweeney before the Foreign Affairs Committee.

LBC asked the senior Labor MP who chairs the committee if he wanted the long-time Mandelson ally to appear, and he replied: “I will invite other witnesses. It would probably be better if they hear it from me first rather than from you.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and the SNP have called on Labor to vote no confidence in Sir Keir.

The Prime Minister’s Chief Secretary, Darren Jones, confirmed that a leak investigation into the story reported to the media was ongoing.

Sir Olly described the release of information to The Guardian as a “gross breach of national security” after the Cabinet Office briefed No 10 on the issue.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves backed the decision to sack Sir Olly, saying in one instance whether Lord Mandelson had passed scrutiny was “important information” that the mandarin should have told the prime minister.

Asked about the possibility of challengers to Sir Keir’s authority, he insisted there was “no Labor leadership race”.

At the same event, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said Labor needed to take “bold steps” to show people how they were dealing with the crisis surrounding the Iran war.

Although media reports suggested Ms Rayner had recently met Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham amid rumors of a leadership battle, sources close to Ms Rayner suggested her speech signaled she was open to returning to serve as a minister in Sir Keir’s government.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has previously said he feared an “explosion” from Lord Mandelson’s appointment and had spoken to the then Foreign Secretary David Lammy about his concerns.

But the former Labor leader said he did not think he should resign over Sir Keir’s decision to appoint Lord Mandelson to the post.